Board to qualify NCOs for jobs with generals

Oct. 5, 2013 - 01:31PM
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The Army is preparing to hold its second-ever centralized selection board to qualify senior noncommissioned officers of the Regular Army for future nomination and consideration to serve as command sergeants major at the one- or two-star level.

However, in a major change from the 2012 panel, this year’s board also will qualify NCOs for possible assignment to nominative sergeant major positions with major generals and brigadier generals and equivalent Senior Executive Service officials.

The upcoming board, scheduled for Dec. 16-20, will qualify soldiers for assignment to nominative positions that become vacant in fiscal 2015.

Before adoption of the new centralized selection system, the nominative process for E-9s had been an assignment and career management action not involving a board. General officer commanders, the sergeant major of the Army and the Army chief of staff continue to play pivotal roles in the assignment of senior NCOs to nominative positions.

Soldiers identified by the upcoming board will be placed on one of the three nominative position referral lists for use in meeting command sergeant major and sergeant major requirements in fiscal 2015. NCOs placed on the referral list will not be referred to a selecting official until they have completed at least 17 months in their current assignment.

The referral rosters will list candidates by the functional groups of Maneuver, Fires and Effects, Operations Support and Force Sustainment. These are the same functional categories used by battalion and brigade commander and sergeant major boards.

Soldiers placed on the referral lists will be managed by the Sergeant Major Management Office of Human Resources Command, which will work with selection officials, such as general officer commanders, to appoint NCOs for assignment to nominative positions.

The standard tour length for nominative positions is 24 months. Soldiers who serve in such assignments will incur a 30-month service obligation to cover the nominative assignment plus six months to allow for transition from the Army in the event they are not picked up for a subsequent nominative assignment.

Command sergeants major and sergeants major must meet these criteria if they want to be screened by the December board:

■Hold a professional development proficiency code of 7C or 7S as of the date the Command Preference Designator opens (tentatively scheduled for Nov. 4).

■Have a basic active service date of March 30, 1986, or later, and have a date of birth no earlier than March 30, 1960.

■Sergeants major currently serving in a nominative position and who have a PDPC of 7C automatically will be considered for selection without being boarded.

Because of projected vacancies in fiscal 2015, all command sergeants major in MOS 74D (chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear specialist) will compete for nomination consideration by the December board.